Love at Mistletoe Inn (book review)

No, my blog is not going to become just a book review site ;). I’ve just really been enjoying the books I’ve been getting from Book Look Bloggers and devouring them. I want to get the reviews up quickly so that I can get new books. Today’s book is called Love at Mistletoe Inn and is written by Cindy Kirk.

Hope and John made a huge decision when they were just 18: they skipped their senior prom and went to get married instead. Immediately upon being pronounced man and wife, Hope regrets the mistake. The “minister,” a college student ordained online for the sole purpose of performing weddings, assures her that if he doesn’t send in the paperwork to the state, it will be as if the marriage happened. Not legal. She feels better armed with that information.

Rejected by Hope, John immediately leaves town following graduation. Hope lives her life under the assumption that she’s not married, that “Bubba” was telling her the truth.

Ten years later, while working a wedding bazaar, Hope learns that simply not sending in the paperwork does not make the marriage invalid. A call to the courthouse confirms that. She’s still married to John.

She learns all of this right around the same time John decides to move back home. He, unlike Hope, has been living as though married this whole time. Now that he’s back and they both know that the marriage is legal, can John win Hope’s heart for good?

This book was a nice, light read. I enjoyed it, and looked forward to having time to read it each day, but I wasn’t enthralled by it. The characters were fairly believable, but not exactly likeable, especially Hope. She was so self-absorbed and mean to John at the beginning. If it hadn’t been for their legal marriage, I can’t see how he would have put up with her. Another thing that seemed a little . . . off, unlikely, what have you . . . was that John’s foster mother was Hope’s Aunt Verna – the aunt who raised her. The book also mentions that John’s father abandoned him and his mother died when he was a child, leaving Verna to raise him as well. If these two characters grew up together, it seems to me that their relationship would be more of brother-sister than romantic. But never having been in this situation, I can’t say for sure.

As soon as Aunt Verna finds out about Hope and John’s marriage, she makes it her mission to plan them a proper wedding, even though Hope isn’t sure she wants to be married to John yet. She even convinces Hope and John to be an intimate part of these wedding plans, telling them it’s for a couple in the military, “Luke and Laura,” who have given her full reign over wedding plans. Neither Hope nor John thought this was weird, which seemed completely unlikely to me. They were stunned when they opened the box of invites that they’d chosen (for Luke and Laura) and saw their own names there. It just didn’t make sense.

Bottom line: Despite all of my complaining, I enjoyed the book. I just can’t recommend it heartily. 3 stars.

Blessings,

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this product through Book Look Bloggers. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions stated are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with FTC Regulations.